P1: FYEG Strategy 2022 - 2025

FYEG Strategy

2022 - 2025

Introduction

FYEG has been growing steadily in terms of organisational capacity and political
impact since 2014 and the Green Wave of the EU elections in 2019 has rapidly
amplified the process. In 2020, the FYEG Executive Committee started a process
for organisational change aiming to ensure that FYEG will continue to develop
and grow in a coherent and sustainable way in order to be able to continuously
work for a stronger young green European movement.

The Executive Committee, Advisory Committee and Secretariat worked on this
organisational change process together with a consultant (the European Activism
Incubator). They assessed FYEG’s internal structures and processes, evaluated
the organisation’s main challenges and then selected three key priorities to
improve FYEG’s capacities and impact. Two of these priorities were linked to
FYEG’s strategic planning and aimed to (1) create a more focused and actionable
strategy and (2) implement processes and tools to ensure the Executive Committee
and Secretariat’s work is more focused, efficient, manageable and in line with
FYEG’s strategy and through better delegation systems.

This Strategic Plan is the result of the organisational change process. It is
based on a Member Organisations Survey and workshops gathering the Executive
Committee, Secretariat and Advisory Committee. It highlights FYEG’s core vision
and mission, as well as the organisation’s strategic focus and objectives for
the coming years, setting a clear mandate for future Executive Committees. The
Strategic Plan will be implemented through FYEG’s Activity Plans and Financial
Plans and monitored via a Strategic Framework with Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs).

FYEG’s main goal is a feminist, diverse, democratic, sustainable and social
Europe. In order to achieve our goal we use different channels, political arenas
and tools.

Background

FYEG is the European umbrella organisation for Young Green organisations from
all over the European continent, from Azerbaijan in the East to Ireland in the
West and from Cyprus in the South to Norway in the North. FYEG’s member
organisations have various backgrounds: local ecological groups, student unions,
youth wings of Green political parties and Young Green civil society
organisations. They were created and are developing in different political and
institutional contexts. They also vary in size and impact, from small or newly
established organisations who focus on recruiting members to large and well
established organisations who have parent parties in government and focus on
putting forward the youth voice in the legislative agenda.

One of FYEG’s main roles and challenges is to bring these very heterogeneous
member organisations together and support them in bringing forward a common
vision. In order to better understand the needs of our member organisations, we
launched a Member Organisation survey. The survey aimed to evaluate FYEG’s
current work and set priorities for its future activities in line with the needs
of FYEG Member Organisations. 20 member organisations responded to a set of 22
questions across 7 topics.

The results of the survey showed the following key points:

Along with FYEG’s monitoring and analysis of members' engagement with FYEG
activities, the results of the survey were fundamental in understanding the
needs of the member organisations and incorporating them in FYEG’s strategy.

Vision, mission and strategic focus

Vision

FYEG’s core vision is a just, feminist, diverse, democratic, sustainable Europe
where people are happy and free. Run by young people, for young people, FYEG’s
core mission is to empower young people to bring forward their perspectives in
order to realise this vision, in line with green values.

Strategic focus

In order to realise its vision and mission, FYEG strategic focus for 2022-2025
will be on:

In addition, FYEG will make inclusion and diversity an overarching focus of its
strategy and activity plan, with the aim of building a more inclusive and
diverse network where racialised communities and other underrepresented groups
are better represented.

Practical implementation

To realise its mission, FYEG is led by its Executive Committee and run by its
Secretariat. The FYEG Executive Committee is elected by FYEG’s member
organisations at the annual General Assembly. The FYEG Secretariat is based in
Brussels, Belgium and is managed by the Secretary General, who is elected at the
General Assembly. In realising its mission, FYEG is guided by its Political
Platform that is adopted by Member Organisations at the General Assembly and
lines out the organisation’s political positions and values in detail.

Strategic objectives

Find below the strategic objectives for each strategic focus:

1. Strengthening the FYEG Network and Membership
   Coordination

The first strategic focus of FYEG is strengthening its network and membership
coordination. For more than 30 years, FYEG’s Member Organisation have joined
forces at the European level, uniting their collective aspirations to learn from
each other, to debate, to campaign together and to make the green Europe we wish
to see become a reality. FYEG will continue to coordinate its network and member
organisations to best serve both the federation as a whole and individual member
organisations.

FYEG’s long term goal is to maintain and develop a strong and well coordinated
federation where member organisations are actively engaged and where FYEG’s work
complements the work of its member organisations.

Based on this goal, FYEG’s priority will be to focus on its current members
rather than expanding and growing its membership. This means expansion will only
be pursued with organisations that are already connected to other Green family
actors such as EGP, GEF or CDN, in countries where FYEG is not yet represented
and when FYEG Executive Committee and Secretariat have the capacity to implement
a meaningful welcoming process for and with the incoming organisation.

To realise this goal, FYEG will focus on 6 strategic objectives in the coming
years:

1. Tailor FYEG member organisation coordination and communication to the
   needs and demands of the member organisations;

2. Improve the engagement of FYEG’s member organisations from the South,
   especially to ensure they are more proportionally represented in FYEG’s
   political work and long term planning;

3. Improve the engagement of FYEG’s member organisations from the East and
   empower them to be more active in the federation. To this end, FYEG will
   continue to support and cooperate with CDN, an instrumental and important
   partner organisation that is committed to develop and implement Green
   ideas in Eastern Europe;

4. Invest in its candidate member organisations to implement a meaningful
   integration process;

5. Increase the attention and support towards struggling member
   organisations;

6. Facilitate political exchanges at the federation level.

2. Capacity building

FYEG advocates for a systemic change that requires a transformation of society
as a whole. In order to achieve this, FYEG strategically focuses on capacity
building of young people across Europe and empowering changemakers through
training and non-formal education projects. As a European organisation, FYEG’s
work is centred on the European level and reaches the regional and national
level through its member organisations who, in turn, reach and impact the
provincial and local level.

FYEG’s long term goal in capacity building is twofold. On one hand, FYEG will
invest in the capacity building of its Member Organisations to be more
resilient, resourceful, sustainable, effective and efficient in delivering
change at local and national levels. On the other hand, FYEG will empower young
people to be skillful and impactful change-makers that are equipped and
confident in developing radical ideas.

Throughout its activities, FYEG will work to develop and foster critical and
analytical thinking as well as creativity and progressive ideas among young
people, through quality non-formal education, capacity building and
intercultural exchanges. FYEG will also encourage and promote inclusive and
active participation of young people in democratic processes, especially for
young people from racialised communities and other underrepresented groups.

To realise these goals, FYEG will focus on 4 strategic objectives in the coming
years:

1. Improve the capacities and resources of FYEG’s member organisations and
   develop their competences in empowering young people at the national
   level;

2. Increase youth participation in electoral processes, specifically the
   number of young greens running for political mandates at the national and
   European level;

3. Create a space for young people to develop progressive ideas with relevant
   and meaningful political output;

4. Increase the level of inclusion and diversity within the membership of
   FYEG’s member organisations and at FYEG’s educational activities.

3. Bringing forward the youth perspective

FYEG fights for equality, inclusion, personal liberties and freedoms, social
welfare and survival and well-being of our planet. As written in FYEG’s
political platform, FYEG does not see a single one of these political issues as
a lone priority but instead fights for all of them simultaneously.

In order to achieve its vision of a feminist, diverse, democratic, sustainable
and social Europe, FYEG uses different channels and tools. We work to be present
and heard at all stages and levels, be it institutions of formal politics or
grassroots level.

FYEG has two long term goals for bringing forward the young green perspective:
(1) Ensuring that young people can participate and influence democratic
processes and political institutions at the EU and European level, especially
for young people from racialised communities and other underrepresented groups;
and (2) ensuring the development, dissemination and adoption of new radical
progressive ideas and policies in line with FYEG’s Political Platform,
especially in policy areas that predominantly affect youth.

With this goal in mind, FYEG will use its network and capacity building
activities to empower young people to bring forward new radical progressive
ideas and policies. FYEG will use its platform and media presence to amplify the
youth voices and demands, with a particular focus on marginalised young people.
When relevant for its work and objectives, FYEG will continue to collaborate
with other youth organisations or progressive organisations in order to achieve
greater impact and diversify its outreach.

FYEG will use its strategic partnerships with the European Green Party and the
Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament to ensure the youth perspective
influences all parts of EU and European decision-making processes. FYEG will aim
to continue its work as a member of the Advisory Council on Youth to the Council
of Europe, to make sure that the Council of Europe provides democratic and
transparent support to youth organisations and prioritises the relevant
political priorities of the Youth. FYEG will also continue to influence the UN's
climate policies through its COP delegation.

To realise these goals, FYEG will focus on 4 strategic objectives in the coming
years:

1. Disseminate FYEG’s educational activities and political statements to a
   broader audience, utilising communication and media tools;

2. Improve the interest and engagement of FYEG’s member organisations and
   young people in European and EU politics through joint campaigns and
   communications;

3. Improve FYEG’s political impact at the European level by focusing on
   existing partnerships with EGP and the Greens/EFA Group in the European
   Parliament and, when relevant, by fostering networking with the European
   Youth Forum and other youth organisations;

4. Increase youth participation, both in terms of voter turnout and in terms
   of young Greens running for the European Parliament in the EU elections in
   2024 via an impactful elections campaign.

4. Organisational growth

Finally, in order to better implement its work and objectives, FYEG’s last but
essential strategic focus is organisational growth. Since the organisational
change process started in 2020, FYEG has made a lot of progress, but there are
still a lot of areas where improvement is needed in order for the organisation
to be able to more effectively execute its mission. To this end, FYEG will
continue to work on its internal structures and processes.

FYEG’s long term goals in terms of organisational growth are (1) to have a
network and internal structures that are strong, resilient, sustainable and
efficient in order to better achieve their goals and objectives and (2) to
ensure that FYEG grows in a meaningful, strategic and sustainable way that
benefits FYEG as an organisation and as a network.

In the medium term, FYEG will aim at improving long term planning and continuity
within FYEG’s structures by developing a 5 years Strategic Plan to be adopted at
the 2025 General Assembly, proposing the adoption of a 3 years mandate for the
Secretary General and evaluating the possibility of extending the length of the
mandate for the Executive Committee in the future.

To realise these goals, FYEG will focus on 3 strategic objectives in the coming
years:

1. Improve FYEG’s internal management, governance processes and transfer of
   knowledge;

2. Improve the working conditions and retention of FYEG’s staff and Executive
   Committee;

3. Improve FYEG’s Strategic Framework with the aim to facilitate monitoring
   and evaluation of the implementation of the Strategic Plan and to ensure
   adequate use of resources and capacities when creating the Activity Plans.